Zakharova said that she had formulated the claim while visiting New York during an official visit with a Russian delegation in September.

Controversy erupted in Moscow Friday afternoon after a Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson suggested that the recent US presidential election was influenced by a "Jewish conspiracy," according to the BBC.

During an interview with a Russian television chat show, Maria Zakharova quipped that the best template to gauge America's political landscape was the New York Jewish community.

"If you want to know what will happen in America, who do you need to talk to? You have to talk to the Jews, of course. It goes without saying."

At this, the live studio audience applauded loudly, according to the BBC.

Zakharova added that she had formulated the claim while visiting New York during an official visit with a Russian delegation in September.

"I have a lot of friends and acquaintances there, of course I was interested to find out: how are the elections going, what are the American people's expectations?"

The Russian state employee than attempted to mimic a Jewish accent and said Russian Jews had told her: "Marochka, understand this - we'll donate to Clinton, of course. But we'll give the Republicans twice that amount.' Enough said! That settled it for me - the picture was clear," adding that "if you want to know the future, don't read the mainstream newspapers - our people in Brighton [Beach] will tell you everything."

In response, several political figures came out against Zakharova's statements, including Russian opposition activist Roman Dobrokhotov, who wrote on Twitter (in Russian) that the spokeswoman had "explained Trump's victory as a Jewish conspiracy," the BBC reported.

Former US ambassador to Moscow Michael McFaul also took to social media, writing: "Wow. And this is the woman who criticizes me for not being diplomatic."